CHESHIRE Constabulary has announced plans for more police on the beat in villages - only months after its Chief Constable questioned the effectiveness of rural policing.

Operation Attention will allow rural constables to concentrate on pounding their beat without having to respond to incidents elsewhere in the county.

Money has been found to pay the overtime needed to run the operation, which will cover the period up to Christmas and into the New Year.

Two extra officers will be free each day with their time shared between villages including Malpas, Farndon, Tattenhall, Tarvin, Barrow, Ashton and Kelsall.

The introduction of beat officers is intended to provide a reassuring presence to those concerned about law and order in rural areas.

It comes just months after Chief Constable Nigel Burgess warned that a #228,000 Government grant for the policing of rural areas was not an effective use of resources in the fight against crime.

He told a meeting of the Cheshire Police Authority the allocation amounted to little more than a public relations exercise and would not yield tangible results. While it would make the residents of rural communities feel safer by putting "bobbies on the beat", it would do little to address the reality of crime, he said.

At the time, Chief Constable Burgess said: "Part of the Government's reason for this (funding) is to bolster confidence in rural communities.

"But if the priority is to tackle serious crime such as robberies and burglaries, the money would not go to rural areas because Cheshire's rural areas are extraordinarily safe.

"The Government's priority is to respond to public calls for a greater police presence. Other than finding a high level of public satisfaction, there will be very little tangible, measurable result."

Spokeswoman Brenda Cowling said: "The Chief Constable was referring to the fact that for the level of resources people want to see in rural areas around the clock, the force would need a minimum of 300 extra officers.

"Because this is out of the question, we carry out specific operations such as Operation Attention which are for a limited period and are funded by overtime.

"As we cannot put officers on permanent overtime we only carry out these operations at certain times of the year, such as December when criminals are attempting to rob premises in order to get Christmas money." ..SUPL: